The laughable stories collected by Mâr Gregory John Bar Hebræ

1^6
THE LAUGHABLE STORIES OF BAR-HEBR^US.
" 'bring thee a little cooked food.' And when I had sat
"down her husband came and said to her, 'Did I marry
'"thee to set out food for wayfarers?' And he said to
"me, 'Get up, man, and go about thy business,' and
"being ashamed I rose up and went to another village.
"And when I had gone therein I met a young man with
"a handsome face and I asked him for some bread,
"and he replied, 'Prithee let us go to the house that
'"thou mayest eat a little cooked food.' So I went
"with him and we came to the door of his house, and
"there came forth a woman and said, 'Who is this man?'
"and the young man said, 'He is a traveller, and I have
'"brought him to eat bread.' And the woman said,
'"Have I taken thee for a husband that thou shouldst
'"bring wayfarers in on me in this wise?' and she shut
"the door in his face and mine. Then I laughed out
"loud straightway, and I began to wonder at the man
"in the first village, and at the woman in this village.
"And the young man asked me why I laughed, and I
"told him what had happened to me in the former
"village; and having described to him the house and
"the woman and her husband, he said to me, 'This is
'"much more worthy of wonder— that the woman is my
'"sister, and this wife of mine is the sister of the man
'"who is my sister's husband.'"